Saturday, February 1, 2014

Stove

After some intensive Internet research which as everyone knows can go on indefinitely, I reverted to the idea of buying locally and arranged to meet with the gang at the windy smithy just outside Honiton (11 miles from the farm). Their 3 pronged spiral logo is in the picture below. .. It's an air vent in to stove door.

They have been hand making stoves especially for yurts for years and had exactly what I was looking for... A combo Woodburner & oven.

Having reserved the model I thought would suit the area I need to heat I turned up to collect it on a soggy Monday morning towards the end of January.

I don't know if I was persuaded by the chilly morning, the smaller than expected size or the expert advice, but I ended up upgrading to the largest model they made at £620 plus extras (ie chimney, cap & roof seal flange. The Henry ranger. Which should outlast me.

We hefted it into the bongo & headed back to the farm where Mark helped me install it. Cunningly I had bought the wheelbarrow I will soon need, enroute, as lugging the 85kg weight across a soggy field would have been a nightmare. Suffice to say that with the current record breaking rain even this was a challenge as the wheel dug a soggy furrow.

Working together like old pros we soon had the hole cut in the roof & the fire lit. Installation was easier than expected.

For the next 2 days I foraraged wood nearby cutting it and drying it on the hot plate on top... Stove obsessed!

Despite the temperature getting down to -3 on Tuesday 28 Jan I was toasty warm and succeeded in cooking tarts, baked potato & soup

The stove is a great success, but with small damp branches I have yet to succeed in keeping it burning until morning, hence the first job every morning is to blow on the embers and get the first going again to warm the yurt & make coffee.